35. Relations, Ambitions
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=:= Amanda =:=

"What do you think's going on with Maria?" Sadie asked, as she pulled the minivan into the driveway and turned off the engine.

Amanda shrugged, "No idea. Her text just said she wanted us to come straight home after school."

"Same here," Jenny said.

Beth added softly "Me too. Maybe we're in trouble."

It was half past four in the afternoon, and all four of them received the same text from Maria at lunchtime. She wanted them all home after school, and she asked them not to bring anyone with them. So Amanda couldn't hang out with Britt after class, Sadie couldn't spend time with Ashley, and both Jenny and Beth had to cancel some plans with their friends.

"I don't think we're in trouble," Amanda said. She was worried it might be something coven-related. Maybe some of those Brotherhood guys were back after all. Though she was pretty sure if they were in danger Maria would have been clearer about it.

They all climbed out of the minivan and headed inside. All four were somewhat anxious, but that quickly shifted to confusion when they found Maria waiting with a large smile on her face.

"Hi girls," she grinned. "We're going to order something in for dinner tonight, so what does everyone want?"

Beth spoke up first, "Pizza?" She had a hopeful grin on her face. It was about the only time she wasn't shy or soft-spoken, when there was the possibility of pizza.

Sadie grinned and shrugged, "Pizza's good."

Jenny pouted, "Ok, but next time we're getting Chinese."

Amanda frowned, "It's my turn to cook tonight, Maria. Why are we ordering in? What's going on?"

Sadie giggled as she teased "Maybe Maria just doesn't like your cooking, sis."

"Hey!" Amanda protested, "There's nothing wrong with my cooking!" She smirked and added, "Anyways you're one to talk, miss Always-Undercooks-The-Potatoes!"

In mock outrage, Sadie retorted "I do not!"

Amanda giggled, "Right, sometimes you burn them instead!"

Maria smiled as she shook her head, "That's enough you two. All right, pizza it is. I'll place the order while the rest of you put away your books and do whatever else you need to get done. We'll reconvene at the kitchen table when the pizza's here." She added, "Sadie, Amanda, will you two please set the table and get drinks ready before then?"

Amanda nodded, "Sure Maria."

They all made their way to their rooms for now, but Amanda was still curious what was going on. Obviously it wasn't anything bad, but it still felt unusual.

An hour or so later the pizzas had arrived and they were all seated around the table. They were at their usual places, with Maria at the head of the table, Sadie to her left, and Amanda next to her twin. Jenny sat on Maria's right, across from Sadie, and Beth was next to Jenny, across from Amanda.

Everyone had cola to drink tonight, except Sadie who preferred root beer. They'd got their usual order, a medium pepperoni pizza for Beth and Jenny, a medium deluxe for Amanda and Maria, and a small Hawaiian for Sadie.

As they all started eating, Amanda asked "Maria you never said what was going on. Why are we having pizza, why did we all have to come right home, all that stuff. What's going on?"

"It's because we're celebrating," Maria said with a smile. She had a sip of her soda and added, "Today is a very special day, girls."

Jenny frowned slightly, "It's December seventh. What's so special about that?"

"Pearl Harbour?" Sadie suggested, though the silly grin on her face made it clear she knew it was the wrong answer.

"What's that?" Jenny asked, as her frown deepened.

Sadie frowned back at her, "Don't they teach World War Two in history anymore?"

Jenny seemed completely confused now, "Why are we celebrating that?!"

Maria looked exasperated, though she also seemed to be trying not to laugh. "We're not celebrating that! Girls, settle down and listen up please."

Amanda was just as confused, though it was hard to keep a straight face with everyone apparently in such a silly mood. Or at least, Maria seemed to be in a very good mood and Sadie was picking up on that and acting silly. Amanda looked at the head of the table and asked, "What is it then, Maria? What's the occasion?"

Maria took a deep breath then smiled, looking at each of them in turn. Finally she announced, "I received some paperwork today, girls. The adoptions are all official and complete. As of today, we're all a proper, forever family."

Amanda felt her eyes widen as she stared, and a mix of emotions came over her. She was sure the others all felt it too as everyone was suddenly silent and still, all of them staring quietly at Maria.

She glanced around the table at the expressions on everyone's faces. It was almost two months ago when Sadie suggested it and they'd all agreed, and they'd more or less decided to act like it was a done deal right from the start. But it hadn't really sunk in yet, at least not for Amanda.

Now it was done, it was real, and it felt like it was hitting her all at once. Bethany was now officially their sister. And Maria was their mother. Her mother... Amanda realized she wasn't really prepared for how big the emotions would be, how big this change would feel.

She was still looking around at the others when she realized Beth was rubbing some tears out of her eyes.

Amanda frowned, worried. "Beth? Are you ok?"

Her little sister nodded, and Amanda realized she had a smile on her face. In her typical soft voice she said, "We're all sisters now, for real. We're sisters, and we have a mom!"

Sadie was smiling too as she said, "That's right Beth. We're sisters, we're together, and we're a real family."

Beth looked at Maria, and with a wide smile on her face she said "Thanks, mom!"

Sadie did the same thing, she smiled to Maria and said "Yeah, thanks mom."

Amanda felt a slight panic start building in her. Should she start calling Maria 'mom' now too? She'd been reluctant to do that before, because she didn't want to make it seem like she was forgetting about their real mother. But she'd realized by now that Liz wasn't coming back, so really it was more about making Beth feel happy and welcome here and now, than it was about honouring Liz in the past.

And just like that, she made the decision. Amanda smiled and looked at their mom as she repeated her sisters. "Thanks mom."

Now it was only Jenny left, and Amanda suddenly worried about her. Jen was biting her lip, and she looked conflicted. Amanda knew Jenny was even more attached to Liz's memory than herself, and now they'd all sort of put Jenny on the spot.

"Jenny honey," mom said softly, "You can still call me Maria, it's ok. Please don't feel pressured to do or say anything that you're not comfortable with. Your sisters and I all understand."

Jenny took a few deep breaths, she was staring down at the table now. Amanda realized there were some tears in the girl's eyes. After several seconds Jen finally said, "It's ok... I think our old mom would be happier if I said it too, so... Thanks mom."

Beth turned and put her arms around Jenny, hugging her tight. She whispered, "Thank you sis."

"You're welcome, sis." Jenny replied, hugging her back.

By now Amanda had some tears in her eyes too, and as she blinked them away she realized mom and Sadie were doing the same.

She got up from her chair and went around the table, joining her two little sisters in the hug. Sadie followed, and then mom did too. All five of them shared in their first big group hug as a real family.

=:= Jessica =:=

Nikki had called a full coven meeting, and Jess looked around the table at everyone. The expressions she saw were a mix of happiness, relief, curiosity, and calm.

It was the second Sunday of December. Tomorrow would mark two full weeks since the Brotherhood had fallen, two weeks since Cindy and Zoe returned to them.

There was still one empty seat at the table of course. The coven would continue to save a place for Becky, out of respect. Jess appreciated that, and she was sure Cindy and Tanya did too.

Sam and Nikki were at the head of the table as usual. And like always, Kara was sitting to Nikki's left, in their role as champion and protector. Jess sat next to Kara of course. Tanya was beside Jess on the other side, and then Brandi, and then the empty seat for Becky.

On the opposite side of the table, Maria sat to Samantha's right, where Cindy used to sit. Then Amanda, Sadie, and Ashley.

Cindy and Zoe were now sitting together at the far end of the table, opposite Sam and Nikki. Jess knew there was some significance, this had to mean something, but she wasn't sure yet what. She assumed whatever it was, would be part of the discussion today.

There was one other person in attendance this afternoon, though she wasn't at the table with them. Ciara had been allowed to watch, provided she stayed quiet. So the small brunette was sat crosslegged on a leather armchair in the living-room, with her plushie kitty and a glass of juice.

Nikki opened the meeting by thanking everyone for coming. She and Sam said a few words about how they were all safe now, there were no new threats, and then there was a minute of silence as they all paid respects to Becky.

Then Sam took over and said, "You're all probably wondering why Cindy and Zoe are seated somewhat apart from the rest of us. The two of them spoke with Nikki and I yesterday, and together we decided to let them discuss this with everyone as a group."

Jess was even more curious now, wondering what was going on. She could tell Kara was getting tense next to her. The champion didn't like surprises, and they weren't a fan of Cindy. So some sort of surprise coming from the sorceress was probably bad news, in their opinion.

Cindy said, "Thank you Sam, Nikki." She then looked at everyone around the table, "Some of you may have noticed this already, but something tells me you haven't. Zoe and I are no longer part of your Goddess's 'flock' or whatever."

As she spoke, Cindy held out her right arm, showing off the tattoo on her wrist. Jess was shocked as she realized the name of the Goddess was gone, along with the word that marked her as a sorceress. There was a new tattoo there now, three simple runes.

At the same time Zoe held out her wrist, revealing that her initiation mark had also been replaced. She now had a cat-paw-print tattoo instead.

"I can't speak for your Goddess," Cindy continued, "But I hope there's no animosity between any of us. Zoe and I are happy to remain friends with all of you, and friends with Her. But we aren't bound to Her any more. We aren't bound to anyone at all, for that matter."

Zoe smirked and winked at Cindy as she said quietly "Except maybe each other, cutie."

Cindy blushed, and Jess couldn't help grinning at the flustered blonde. She saw a few other grins around the table as well, especially from the three teens sitting across from her.

While her girlfriend was still blushing, Zoe took over. "If this means we're no longer welcome at these meetings, or here in your home, we'll go peacefully. We're not looking for any trouble."

"Will you tell us why you two have rejected Her?" Samantha asked.

Cindy shook her head, "We'd rather not. It's something we'd like to put behind us and move on from."

Nikki spoke up, "The Goddess tells me that the reason is private, something between Her and Cindy. She says it's amicable, and She doesn't object to Cindy remaining here with us, provided she continues to be helpful and doesn't disrupt anything."

Jess saw Cindy and Zoe exchange a quick glance. It looked like the two hadn't actually been sure whether or not the Goddess would remain friendly.

"Cindy, does this mean you aren't a sorceress anymore?" Jessica asked. "I mean, that new tattoo is just your initials."

The small blonde shrugged, "I'm not her sorceress... To be honest I don't know what I am now."

Jess considered, then asked "Any significance to the tattoo? I mean, Zoe having a paw-print is kind of self-explanatory. Why pick your initials, why not something more magical?"

Cindy replied, "It's significant to me. It reminds me who I am, and that I'm my own person now."

"Our tattoos are also enchanted," Zoe added. "Instead of wearing the amulets, we've got the physical and magical protection embedded in our bodies. So our protection can't be lost or taken."

"Right," Cindy nodded. "I can do that for anyone else who wants it. Or ask your Goddess, She can do it too." She added, "These aren't magic invisible tats by the way, not like the initiation ones. Anyone can see them, so if you want protective ink, think about what and where, because it'll be visible."

Jess listened to all of this with surprise, but she was smiling. The idea of not having to wear two copper amulets all the time was appealing on its own, and the prospect of combining protection with some artistic self-expression was exciting.

Nikki said, "Ok, thank you Cindy. I suppose if anyone wants to take Cindy up on her offer, speak with her after we're finished." She asked, "Was there anything else?"

"Yes," Cindy nodded. "A couple months ago you asked me to come up with a new transformation spell, something you could use at QSAW to help trans people."

Jess smiled "You've got something ready for us now?" She could see Maria was looking more interested now too.

"No." Cindy replied, shaking her head.

Jess frowned, "It's not possible? Or impractical?"

Cindy replied, "I decided it's not the right approach."

"What do you suggest, then?" Maria asked.

"Give people what they want, immediately. Like we've been doing all along." Cindy stated.

Sam sighed, "Cindy we can't keep changing reality every time we do this. Especially after what happened with our families. We've already agreed, again, not to change reality any more."

"I'm not suggesting we change reality." Cindy said.

Maria sounded uncomfortable as she said "If we just change folks, people will notice, question. What about their families, their jobs or schools?"

Cindy nodded as she leaned back in her chair. For a moment Jess thought the sorceress was going to put her feet up on the table. "That's the real problem, isn't it? But slowing the spell down... No. That's just prolonging trans people's suffering, so that cis society is spared dealing with the sudden change."

She frowned as she continued, "And changing reality, that's just sweeping the problem under the carpet. It's giving people what they want, but also expecting them to hide who they are, or were. Again, it's about sparing cis people's feelings."

Jessica's heart was starting to race with excitement. She had no idea where Cindy was going with this, but it sounded like the teen had put a lot of thought into things from a trans perspective rather than just trying to keep things secret and covered up, as they'd all been doing so far.

"Where are you going with this, Cindy?" Jess asked. "What's your plan?"

Cindy smiled, "I want to change the world. I want a world where someone can come out as trans, be transformed as soon as they feel ready, overnight if they want, and be immediately and automatically accepted for who they are."

Zoe added, "This doesn't just apply to trans people. This can and should apply to everyone. Everybody should have the opportunity to change their body, their appearance, their name if they want. And be accepted for who they are."

"Right," Cindy said. "But trans people are first, because they're the group who need it the most."

Jess was grinning now. "Holy shit Cindy, you're not messing around!"

"You're still not addressing the problem," Maria said, sounding nervous. "Instant transformations are going to be questioned, people will react badly. It'll be chaos."

Cindy shrugged, "At first. That's the problem though. The problem isn't about trans people needing to change their bodies. That's never been the problem. It's the rest of society who refuses to accept that trans people exist, and that they need this."

There was some anger in her voice now as Cindy continued, "There's still people out there who freak out if they see someone with 'unusual-coloured' hair! People who refuse to acknowledge when someone changes their name!" She gestured at Zoe, "My girlfriend's been walking around out in the world for like a year and a half, with purple hair, cat ears, and a tail! She gets stares, questions, ridicule, and of course bigotry. But she's brave, and she has magical protection."

The small sorceress took a breath to calm herself, then said "I want a world where anyone can do that and not need magic to keep them safe. I want a world where you can just be whoever, whatever you want, and people just accept it. I want a world where gatekeeping, HRT, and surgery are footnotes in history, thanks to magic. I know this won't happen overnight, but it won't happen at all unless we start the ball rolling now."

Jessica's heart was still pounding but she was grinning ear to ear. This was the sort of thing she'd never even dreamed about, it was so ambitious it just wasn't even a consideration. But Cindy sounded and looked passionate about it, and it was absolutely something Jess supported fully. She looked around the table to gauge what everyone else thought.

Zoe of course was smiling proudly. Tanya and Brandi were smiling too, though they looked surprised more than anything else. Sadie and Ashley were smiling but looked nervous. Amanda looked thoughtful. Maria looked worried. Sam was uneasy, Nikki looked thoughtful, and Kara had a wary frown on their face.

"Damn, Cindy..." Jess shook her head, still grinning. "That's ambitious and it's kind of scary, but also... Wow! You're talking about normalizing magic even? Make it just an everyday thing?"

"This is dangerous," Kara stated. "You're going to bring the world's attention to us."

Cindy shook her head, "I won't expose the coven. I have some plans, I'm not going to do anything right away. It'll take me a while to get all this into place, but I won't expose you. I might expose myself eventually. But Zoe and I are already apart from the coven, and if that time comes, we'll make sure there's nothing connecting us back here."

Nikki finally spoke up, her tone serious. "The Goddess is not comfortable with this, Cindy. She wants to know your plan."

The small blonde just smiled as she leaned back in her chair again, "All in good time."

"Cindy," Maria said nervously, "This grand plan of yours sounds very ambitious and I applaud your goals and reasons. But you're talking about going up against a lot of institutions and organizations that will want to maintain the status-quo. They're not going to be pleased. They'll put up a lot of resistance."

"I know, Maria." Cindy shrugged. "It'll be difficult, especially at first. But I have some ideas."

Her attention focused on the three teens as she said "Ashley, I'll need to speak with you. I think you can help."

The brunette's eyes went wide as she squeaked, "Me?!"

Cindy smiled, "Yeah. I'm thinking you might have some of the answers I need to get started."

"O-ok. I'll do my best," Ashley replied nervously.

"Thanks," Cindy grinned. "We'll talk later."

• • • • •

"It's going to be a variation of the transformation spell, but it'll be like, 'transform yourself'." Cindy explained. "It'll be as simple as possible to cast, but practically impossible to reverse-engineer. People won't be able to transform each other. It'll have other safeguards in place too. I'm thinking of tying it to the full moon, so it can only be used once a month."

Jess asked, "So you haven't actually created it yet?"

It was Sunday night now, the meeting had wrapped up with Cindy refusing to discuss her plans in any more detail. The others had eventually gone home, and then Nikki made dinner for the group here.

Now Cindy, Zoe, Samantha and Jessica were sitting in front of the fire talking quietly. Kara didn't want any part of this, they went downstairs to the home gym to work out, and Nikki excused herself and went upstairs to read in bed. Ciara was already in bed as well, as it was rather late now.

"Not yet, no." Cindy shook her head. "Believe me, I want to do this right. If it takes me a few months, so be it. Once it's ready, I'll find someone to try it out, under controlled circumstances. I'll be there to monitor it. And once I'm satisfied, then we'll start to share it."

Sam asked, "How will you share it? Are you going to try and limit who has access to it?"

"That's where Ashley comes in," Zoe said. "She knows where trans teens hang out online. We'll put something out that way."

Jess was still excited, she couldn't stop smiling. "What do you think's going to happen, when news of this gets out?"

Cindy shrugged, "Very short term, a lot of people with dysphoria will get really interested and want to find out how to do this for themselves. Governments and news sources will try to deny it, discredit it. Then it will get politicized. Some people will try and outlaw it. Some will try to, I dunno, make anyone who uses it a pariah, if not an outright criminal."

Zoe nodded sadly, "Religious bigots will have a field day. Families will be torn apart, and things could get really shitty."

Jess felt her mood dropping rapidly as she realized the two of them were right, and they'd put a lot of thought into this already. "Fuck. So what then? You can't give people this wonderful tool then leave them hanging."

"I won't." Cindy stated. There was a firmness, a resoluteness in her tone, that Jess hadn't heard before. "I'm going to change the world, one way or another. All of us here, in the coven, we've got amazing gifts and powers. It's time to share that. Time to make the world better for everyone. I'm talking about political pressure, money, whatever."

Zoe nodded, "Right wing groups use political pressure all the time. They throw money around, they influence, or outright bribe politicians. Now it's our turn. There's a lot of smart people in the coven. Together we'll figure it out. Like Cindy said, we're going to change the world."

Jess was smiling again, "Damn. You two are already thinking four or five steps ahead."

Cindy nodded, "It won't happen overnight. But it'll happen soon enough."

Sam warned, "This is going to be dangerous, Cindy. For you and Zoe, and anyone else too close to you. When people figure out you're involved, they'll be looking for you. There's still a bunch of those Brotherhood guys across Europe, they probably won't like this any more than the religious right."

"I know, Sam." Cindy sighed. Then her expression hardened, "I'm not ready to share more details with the coven yet but... I'm not the same person I was a month ago. I've grown, a lot. If people get nasty, if people get violent and threatening... Well, you saw what I did to the guys who went after Maria's girls. I won't let anyone harm my friends."

After a pause, she looked at Sam and said, "I'm going to make this world better, friendlier, and more inclusive. It's going to be a better place by the time she starts school. Her generation will be the first to grow up in our nicer world."

Jess looked at her sister, frowning a little. "By the time who starts school?"

Sam's eyes widened and she blushed, looking at Cindy. "How did you know?"

Jessica felt her eyebrows shoot upwards as she stared wide-eyed. "Sam?! For real?"

"Yeah Jess, for real." Samantha was smiling now, "Some time towards the end of May or early June, you'll be an aunt."

Jess let out a happy squeal as she threw her arms around her sister. "Oh my Goddess Sam! Congratulations!"

Cindy and Zoe quietly excused themselves and headed up to their bedroom while Jess started grilling Samantha for all the details.

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